


the final set

by 21tales



Series: haikyuu blank period [5]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Captain Yamaguchi, Gen, distressed third year hinata? bring it on, haikyuu manga spoilers, karasuno first years as third years, we'll need an f in the chat after this
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-24
Updated: 2020-02-24
Packaged: 2021-02-27 19:22:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,073
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22880974
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/21tales/pseuds/21tales
Summary: the center court, and some expectations.[ haikyuu chapter 370 spoilers ]
Relationships: Hinata Shouyou & Karasuno Volleyball Club
Series: haikyuu blank period [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1617475
Comments: 4
Kudos: 69





	the final set

Hinata’s eyes are closed, his mind running through images of the last rally of the previous set. If only he timed his approach better, maybe he could’ve gotten the ball through the blocks. He wasn’t tired—he _isn’t_ tired. He wonders if and why he hesitated during his run up, which wasn’t like him at all. If only he didn’t _think_ so much before the run-up, if only he pushed himself a little more, if only—

“Hey.” A stern voice breaks him out of his thoughts and his eyes shoot open. Kageyama is standing before the bench Hinata is seated on, holding a bottle with one hand and wiping the sweat off his neck with the towel in the other. “You’re not hung up on that spike, are you?”

Hinata remains silent, which answers the setter’s question.

“We’ll break through,” Kageyama says and looks over his shoulder, eyeing the court. “I know we will. That set was close and you know it, too. Don’t you dare back down now.”

Hinata clenches his fists in mild frustration, but quickly releases them, breathing out slowly. He lets his mind register Kageyama’s words. Watching the numbers reset to zeroes on the scoreboard he pushes away those last, residual regrets in his head and looks around at the team. The coach is addressing the other wing spikers, and while the second years on the bench are handing out towels and bottles to the players, the remaining are silently shifting their focus. He can hear cheers and chants from the Karasuno stands. All in all, everybody seems to have moved on to think of what comes next.

“Yeah,” Hinata finally says and nods, taking in the comfort that comes with knowing that his team is still with him. He should know better than to dwell on what went wrong. They can’t afford it, now that they’ve finally come this far. 

“Not that your brain is capable of that much thought anyway,” Tsukishima speaks up, who is seated beside Hinata, wiping his glasses, “try to keep the hesitation to a minimum. I’d rather you remain an idiot on court, thank you. Makes it easier for the rest of us.”

A vein pops in Hinata’s forehead. “Hey!” he protests, also wondering whether there was a Tsukishima-like compliment hidden in those words, but his blond teammate is already getting up and walking away to get his bottle of energy drink. 

“He’s right.” Yamaguchi appears from behind Hinata, rolling and warming up his shoulders. On noticing Hinata’s offended glare, he waves his hands and clarifies, “About the hesitation part, I mean. I think all of us need to understand that. Yes, they have had us cornered in that same situation a couple of times throughout the game, but that doesn’t mean we won’t stop trying. When have we _ever_ stopped trying?”

“That’s correct.” Coach Ukai is now making his way towards the third years and Hinata stands back up as he approaches. “Keep your roles in mind because we’ve managed to get past their defences a good number of times. We’ll focus on the other strategy we talked about last night. In fact, Yachi’s even noticed something about their #7.”

The rest of the team gathers around as well and they work through all the new information from their manager one-by-one. Hinata’s second thoughts are slowly fading away and by the time the Yachi’s explanation is finished, he feels a little better. 

He was being stupid. This was completely unlike him.

“Itachiyama has just caught up with us, that’s all,” Takeda-sensei says as the team absorbs the reality of the situation they were in. “Think of it this way: you get to play _another_ set in the center court. It would be a waste to not make the most of it, now that you’ve made it all the way here. Give it your all. You can do this.”

“Yes, sir!”

“Besides,” Yamaguchi speaks up after the team, beaming, “if we win this, we get to play another whole game here. Five sets, all for us.”

A chorus of _woah_ ’s is heard over Tsukishima’s apathetic muttering.

Hinata is hardly the person to be reminiscent at this point, but it truly would suck if he didn’t get to play any more. He looks over at their calm and collected opponents on the other side of the net as they reset themselves. It is true that the one who wins the second set gains the momentum, but this wouldn’t be the first time Karasuno steals that momentum right back from the other team in order to win. The Spring Tournament is long and hard. If anything, it has felt more and more challenging each year. This time, in his last high school tournament, Hinata wants to see this through to the end.

“We’ll win ‘em all,” Hinata suddenly thinks out loud, taking himself and the team by surprise. They recover quickly, however, a sense of relief settling down around them now that their greatest decoy seems to be back in action.

“That’s what we’re here for, idiot,” Kageyama says and Hinata frowns.

“Don’t ruin the atmosphere, Your Majesty,” Tsukishima huffs, receiving a cold glare from the vice-captain in response.

“Hinata-senpai!” the louder set of the first years cheer behind them, in awe of their senior’s bold statement.

Yachi joins her hands together, grinning. “Way to be positive, Hinata.” 

Gradually, Hinata’s face starts feeling warmer again, his energy returning. “Yeah.” He returns a wider grin. “We’ll win this and play some more.” The loud first years echo his words in similar excitement, causing Yachi to let out a small laugh.

"Great," she says. "Do your best!"

Soon enough, there’s loud, comfortable chatter among the team which only dissolves once the long whistle blows, signalling the start of the set. Hinata’s thumping heart has steadied. In the one moment where everything seems to have quieted down, he feels as focussed as ever, and he can see in their gleaming, fiery eyes that his teammates feel the same. 

It’s now or never.

The players, along with the coaches and Yachi, circle around, arms over each other’s backs.

“We’re gonna take this set!” Yamaguchi yells over the loud crowd in the stadium, hammering down the intensity of the final set. ”Karasuno, _fight!_ ”

“ _Yeah!_ ” 

The team roars louder than ever. Hinata, with the other starting players, sets foot on the court hoping for a victory that may never come.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> maybe i was inspired by terajima yuji. who knows
> 
> [ find me on [twitter](https://twitter.com/tsukkisachi) and [tumblr](https://21tailsofwoe.tumblr.com/) !!! ]


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